Choosing a Co-Founder is like Choosing a Life Partner

Launching a company is not something that should be done alone, as it requires a combination of technical and business capabilities, as well as industry knowledge and experience; qualities which are rare for one person to possess.

The solution to this problem is to find at least one cofounder to help shoulder the various burdens associated with building a business. Benjamin Chong, the Director of the Sydney Founder Institute, has a special insight into what to look for when searching for a cofounder: choosing a cofounder is much like selecting a life partner.

You’re looking for a long-term partnership with someone who can share the same vision and passion for the business as you do, a person you can trust and be honest with at all times. Given you’re going to be spending a lot of time with your cofounder, you want to make sure you’re compatible, have similar work ethics, and share the same goals and values.

But while it’s important that you share many similarities, it’s also useful to have a cofounder that thinks different from you so you can avoid groupthink. Your cofounder should complement your skills and be able to bring something new to the table" - Benjamin Chong

The Founder Institute is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 50 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 1,550 companies in 6 years. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and build sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.